The present embodiments relate to fluoroscopy. 2D X-ray fluoroscopy is routinely used for vascular interventions and for cardiac catheterization. For example, coronary artery chronic total occlusion (CTO) is a heart disease that causes a decrease in the blood flow of concerned patients. One of the procedures available to treat this disease is a per-cutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), which relies on the insertion of a catheter through the obstructed artery to release the occlusion.
An angiography is used to determine the severity of the CTO before an intervention to estimate if a PCI may be performed safely. Contrast agent is administered during angiography to make the coronary vessels visible on the X-ray images. Fluoroscopy is used for real-time monitoring of the procedure and catheter location visualization. During the intervention, the practitioner tracks the progress of the catheter in the arteries. However, 2D fluoroscopic images lack detailed anatomical information due to the X-rays limitations in distinguishing among soft tissues. Anatomy may be more visible with injection of contrast agents, but using extra contrast agent during the procedure may subject the patient to harmful side effects.
In order to augment the doctor's visualization of the body anatomy during the intervention, an overlay of computer detected anatomy may be provided on the fluoroscopic image. Such an overlay may help the practitioner localize the vessel structures during the surgery procedure with less contrast agent. However, accurately determining the anatomy location in the fluoroscopic image for the overlay may be difficult and/or inexact.